FITCHBURG — It was a quick day’s work for Frontier’s Payton Sladeski.
The senior took just 11 seconds to pin East Longmeadow’s Gabrial Roman in the first round of the 120-pound weight class, then secured a first round pin against Danvers’ Mark Haskins in the quarterfinals to secure a spot in the semifinals at the MIAA Division 3 Wrestling Championships at Game On Fitchburg.
Wrestling began with Day 1 matches on Friday, while semifinals and championship bouts, along with consolation matches, of the double-elimination brackets are set for Saturday back in Fitchburg.
Haskins gave Sladeski some trouble early but in the end, Sladeski’s speed proved to be too much.
“I was going at a really fast pace and not taking my time to take shots,” Sladeski said. “My hips saved me. After he got put on his back he gave up. He didn’t try to get out of it so I had him.”
Sladeski will meet Melrose’s Sean Thomas in the 120-pound semifinals on Saturday. He’s entering with confidence after a stellar performance on Friday.
“I can’t wait for [Saturday],” Sladeski said. “That’s when the real pressure kicks in. Only thing I’m nervous about is making weight.”
Fellow Redhawk Jake Mattson will have at least one match on Saturday, picking up a pair of wins and a loss on Friday. He finds himself in the consolation Round of Four in the 195 pound weight division, where he’ll take on Norwood’s Ahmed Elalfy.
Frontier’s Wyatt Finch won his opening match of the day at 106 but dropped his next two. Ian Paciorek (113) and Miles Keefe (152) lost both of their matches on Friday.
Two Smith Vocational wrestlers are still alive in the consolation bracket after Day 1 action. Alex Martinez lost his first match at 138 but followed it up with a pair of wins to move forward in the consolation bracket, beating Foxborough’s Sean Bubencik and Longmeadow’s Michael Freda. He’ll face Norwood’s Coleman Keady on Saturday.
Viking Forrest McSweeney (145) won his opening match against Tewksbury’s Hunter Johnson then lost to Norwood’s Nate Hsu in the quarters but came back to defeat Hampshire Regional’s Adin Clifford to move forward in the consolation bracket on Saturday.
“My first match was a good match and I’m glad I won,” McSweeney said. “The second one was tough, we both wrestled well but he ended up getting an extra takedown.”
McSweeney will face Melrose’s Oto Albanese in the consolation round on Saturday. McSweeney said he’s happy to be back at a big wrestling tournament.
“The atmosphere here with so many people here, it’s awesome,” McSweeney said. “I’m glad to be back and be at a normal tournament. I’ve only been to two tournaments so being back here, it feels like wrestling is getting back to normal.”
Smith Vocational’s Matthew Small (132) split his first two matches — defeating Tri-County’s Teddy Connors by a 13-7 decision — but lost a 10-2 decision to Wakefield’s Tommy Grover to get knocked out of the consolation round. Teammate Nicholas Gauger (170) lost both his matches on Friday.
Gateway’s Eli Gilbert (160) lost his opening match, came back to beat Wakefield’s Sean Callanan by a first round pin in his second match, but was pinned by Triton’s Douglas Alyward to get knocked out of the consolation bracket.
Clifford, who was knocked out by McSweeney in the consolation bracket, had his lone win come via forfeit. Fellow Hampshire Regional wrestlers Alex Willard (138) and Luke Johndrow (160) lost both of their matches on Friday.
Quane Randall (285) had the lone win of the day for Northampton, defeating Bristol-Plymouth’s James McDonough by first round pin. He then lost to Tewksbury’s Nick Wilson to be eliminated from the consolation bracket.
Keegan Hollister (152) and Schuyler Trapani (220) lost both of their matches on Friday. All three Blue Devils are first year wrestlers and hope to learn from their first state tournament.
“It was a new experience for us,” Randall said. “It’s good for us to be here so we can do better next year. It’s good experience and we got to see all the wrestlers here. Hopefully being here makes us better wrestlers.”
The MIAA Div. 2 state championship was also held at Game On Fitchburg on Friday, with Abram Speek earning the lone win of the day for Granby.
Speek (160) defeated Boston Latin’s Lewis Grimes via a third-round pin to open the day, but lost his next two matches to be eliminated from the tournament. Joseph Deprey (145) and Nathan Benson (106) also competed for the Rams, both falling in their two matches.